Voice In The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby was published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story takes place in 1920s New York and many aspects of the author’s own life are tied into the characters and story. The 1920s represented an era of change, women gained the right to vote, movies evolved from silent to “talkies”, there was an explosion of activity in arts and literature, assembly lines were in full swing, the economy was prospering, and partying was at an all-time high. In The Great Gatsby, the voice of F. Scott Fitzgerald is seen through the narrator Nick Carraway and can be defined as resentful to show the selfishness, tragedy, and disappointment of the Jazz Age in Fitzgerald’s life.
In The Great Gatsby selfishness was a major theme and cause of much of the conflict in the story. Many of the novel’s characters are selfish by nature and possibly the most obvious example of this is Tom. Tom demonstrates selfishness in the novel by boasting about his wealth, success, and even his mistress to Nick. “We’re getting off!’ he insisted. ‘I want you to meet my girl.” (Fitzgerald 27). This quote from Nick in chapter 2 shows how Tom has no problem cheating and showing off. Both of the qualities displayed by Tom show the audience how Fitzgerald remembers the selfish nature of people during the 20s.
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The greatest tragedy of the novel is the death of Gatsby. Gatsby was one of the most prominent characters in the story so his death came as a surprise and a tragedy to both the characters in the novel and the readers. "After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction." (Fitzgerald 188). Gatsby’s death is tragic because he was one of the most important characters and died to forces outside of his control. The resentful and tragic nature of Gatsby’s death is portrayed well in Fitzgerald’s